David Altmejd’s sculptures contain a dazzling energy, at once biological, kinetic, and surreal. The Orbit (2012) presents a fractured array of fruits, chains, thread, glass, oozing fluids, and strange body parts. The complex spatial construction shifts viewers’ awareness of their own bodies and surroundings. It cannot be entirely seen from any one perspective; viewers must circle the vitrine and look in at every angle, often confronting their own reflections. Transparency and visual echoes lead to moments of confusion, doubt, and discovery. Things come together, only to fall apart at a glance.

Integrating crystal and flesh, sparkle and abyss, Altmejd conveys the radical potential of self-transfiguration. Smashed mirrors and crushed cherries give the work a violent edge, while pastel werewolf hands and choppy wigs verge on ugly and vulgar. Yet each of these elements gives visual and sensual pleasure, set in a rupturing, gooey system of wonder.

The Orbit is part of Altmejd’s ongoing series of vitrine works. Often found in natural history museums, vitrines are clear display cases that symbolize order, classification and knowledge. Altmejd’s vitrines suggest that it is more interesting to gaze at what is live and mysterious, than what is still and known.

David Altmejd (1974, Montréal, Canada) lives and works in New York. He has been featured in solo exhibitions at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich; Oakville Galleries, Canada; and MAGASIN - Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France. In 2007, he represented Canada at the 52nd Venice Biennale. His work is represented in the United States by Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.

The Orbit is a special project for the exhibition Inside Out and From the Ground Up.